The Atholl Highlanders

The original Atholl Highlanders were the 77th Highland Regiment, raised in 1778 under Colonel James Murray. They spent their service in Ireland and were disbanded in 1783. The name also belongs to the Duke of Atholl's own private army, the last one still legal in the British Isles.

Henry Colclough printed an early version in his uilleann pipe tutor around 1830 as "Highland Fabrick." When the 90th Light Infantry got pipers in 1881, they chose this tune for their march past. In Shetland it is called "The Three Sisters," and Scottish dance bands play it so often for the Duke of Gordon's Reel that some call the tune by that name.